motion control
Latest
The 3DS originally lacked 3D and tilt controls
Even though Nintendo has been experimenting with 3D for years, and working on the DS successor for years, the two ideas weren't always connected. Speaking to Famitsu, 3DS hardware producer Hideki Konno revealed that early versions of the hardware were designed without 3D in mind. "I became involved with development starting in 2008, but at that time, it didn't have 3D visuals," Konno said. "From Nintendo's perspective, they've released [3D racing game for Famicom] 3D Hot Rally and the Virtual Boy; they've had a history of experimenting with 3D visuals." With the advent of glasses-free screens, Nintendo decided this would be a good time to try again. The same is true of the gyroscopic motion sensor. It was added just before E3. " The boat had really left the port by that point -- the hardware team had the final specs and just had to work it all out," Konno told Famitsu. "Then, in the midst of that, Miyamoto said 'This isn't enough; we can really change things if there's a gyro sensor in there.'" After playing with a prototype gyro-enhanced DS, Konno agreed. "We had a prototype for the sensor already, so we got everyone together to try it out, and the conclusion we came up with was 'Well, if we can do things this fun with it, I guess we've got no choice.'"
LotRO blog discusses using Kinect to control a PC MMO
Be honest with yourselves -- the first thing you thought when you saw Kinect was along the lines of "OMG imagine an MMO on that!" Sadly, no MMOs have yet been released for Kinect. For the moment, it seems that we'll have to draw our bows, swing our swords and run head-first into danger through the good old-fashioned mouse and keyboard -- or will we? Some time ago, an open-source project started up with the goal of bringing Kinect to the PC. Drivers were created to pipe the inputs from Kinect's infra red field sensors to a PC program, which could then produce a silhouette of the player and even a basic skeleton. Using this software, players can convert body movements into a series of keystrokes. Orchida over at A Casual Stroll to Mordor has seen the potential in this early PC adaptation to control MMOs and has given it a test-drive in Lord of the Rings Online. For those with Kinect who want to give it a try in their favourite MMOs, Orchida gives a rundown of the software you'll need and how to configure it to convert body movements into keystrokes for movement and attacks. The article lists some valid pros and cons to using Kinect as a control method for LotRO and has a video of the entire process in action.
Monster iMotion adds gesture control to your iPod, cigarette lighter
We haven't always gotten along with Monster or enjoyed the MSRP of its products, but this latest one shows a bit of promise -- and a bit of price gouging too. It's the Monster iMotion, a car adapter for your iPod or iPhone that not only will charge it via the cigarette lighter but lets you get your motion control on, too. A wave of the mitten can be used to change tracks and the universally familiar "talk to the hand" gesture can pause. It doesn't look quite as comprehensive as EyeSight's tech, but it does have the advantage of being available now -- for $120. Hey, check out that gold-plated connector!
Kinect combos Street Fighter IV, fires single-fisted boomsticks at the FPS crowd (video)
Oh sure, we've seen the Kinect assist a hadouken or two, but that wasn't the same: here, the YouTube user who brought us Call of Duty via Wiimote, Nunchuk and Kinect is throwing fireballs and taking names in the real game. Demize2010 manipulated the FAAST emulator to recognize a variety of virtual martial arts gestures, including the infamous dragon uppercut and whirlwind kick -- giving him everything he needs for a flowchart victory with only his bare hands. Meanwhile, one Bill Maxwell has taken the Kinect and made it recognize his fist, the better to control first-person shooter games with requiring an Wiimote intermediary. He's developed a "high-speed kinematic tracker" called MaxFPS that monitors his hand's position in real time, allowing him to move, turn, jump, and reload with quick swipes of his paw. How do you shoot? Why, by punching those baddies' lights out, of course. See it on video after the break.
Lenovo's Chinese eBox console suffers delay, here's how its camera-based games might play (video)
We had nearly forgotten Lenovo's Eedoo spinoff and its China-bound video game console, seeing as how it failed to meet a planned November 2010 unveiling, but IDG News reports that the motion-sensing eBox hasn't slipped Lenovo's mind -- it's just been pushed further into 2011. How far? If we were to guess, we'd say Q2 2011, and the video above spells out why. Seemingly by coincidence, we were just sent this footage of a game called Flyimal, built on the Unity Engine as a collaboration between 3D asset company Mixamo and 3D gesture recognition company Omek Interactive, and -- get this -- running on "the first [console] to be made by the Chinese for the Chinese market and due for launch by Q2 of this year." We can't think of many game systems that fit that description, to be honest. There's not a lot to look at here, but we imagine PrimeSense and competitors will be perusing the video soon, noting that the machine captures precisely 15 points on a user's body for its gesture recognition algorithms... and wondering if there's a third dimension to any of that movement. Read Unity, Mixamo and Omek's statement after the break.
Razer Hydra Sixense motion controller eyes-on
The technology behind the Hydra Sixense motion controller has been in development for a while now, but Razer was actually showing it off at CES this year. Unfortunately, it was strictly a hands-off situation at the booth -- we could only look on with jealousy as the Razer rep played through some gorgeous Portal 2 level. What we could see is that the magnetics-based controllers are very responsive, spatial, and multi-dimensional; these aren't your parent's simplistic Wii-style flick controls. There's still no word on price or a release date, but we're hearing "under $100" and "early" this year. It's hard to get totally excited about a PC hardware peripheral, given the smaller quantity of games (particularly hardware-specific titles) over in desktop land, but with Valve support and what appears to be the perfect control scheme (dual analog sticks, dual fully 3D-sensing motion controllers), we'd say the Hydra has a better shot at winning us over than anything else of its ilk. Check out a video after the break for a bit of Hydra action. %Gallery-113921%
ASUS Wavi Xtion motion sensing control system demoed at CES (video)
ASUS may not be anywhere close to ready for its Wavi Xtion to hit retail shelves (we're hearing Q2 of 2012), but that didn't stop our brethren over at Engadget Spanish from stopping by for a hands-on demonstration at CES. We'll spare you the details on how it works, but in practice, we learned that it's quite similar to Kinect. Not shocking considering that PrimeSense is behind both boxes, but the primarily difference seemed to be the reaction time. ASUS' solution wasn't quite as snappy as the Kinect, being slower to recognize and translate motions in testing. Of course, we wouldn't expect a product that's 18 months out from mass production to be completely on top of its game, but feel free to head on past the break to see exactly what we mean.
Philips uWand hands-on
Philips has been touting its uWand "direct pointer" remote for a good while now, but we've never had the chance to actually use one ourselves. Today that omission has been rectified as we got our mitts around this motion / gesture-based controller and gave it a quick test drive. It works by having an infrared camera embedded in the front, which detects an IR beacon in your TV and thereby judges its own distance, tilt and relation to the TV. That then allows for things like motion-based zooming, pointing the remote at the particular thing on the television that you want to "click" on, and navigational shortcuts attached to gestures performed with this handheld. There's also a nice spacious keyboard on the back, assisting in the use of all these Smart TVs CES has been littered with. Philips' intention is to license the technology out to other manufacturers, which could result in consumer products by 2012 -- so yeah, it's not terribly close to your living room yet, but our gallery of images is. %Gallery-113562%
Movea SmartMotion Air Mini Keyboard remote and Air Mouse revealed alongside Sunrex partnership
Don't quote us on this, but we've got a feeling that remotes will be more than just remotes by the time 2012 rolls around. HDTV companies have been slyly adding motion support to their remotes here at CES, and with PrimeSense's technology going over so well in the Kinect, there's an obvious next-step when looking at TV control. Movea -- the company responsible for the Gyration Air Mouse and Air Mouse iOS app -- has just teamed up with Sunrex here at CES, with the newly formed relationship expecting to yield new kit based on the former's MotionIC platform and SmartMotion technology. We're told to expect the first products to be available in Q1 of this year, with the SmartMotion Air Mini Keyboard remote and SmartMotion Air Mouse being named in particular. The former includes a full four-row QWERTY keyboard and relies on 2.4GHz wireless technology, but no images, pricing and availability details are available just yet. %Gallery-113688%
Xbox Engineering blog explains how Kinect works
So, remember all those times that you asked us how the Kinect manages to identify your human form and adapt it into an in-game Avatar? Remember how we told you that it did so with "robot magic?" We may have been a little off-base with that one -- the Xbox Engineering blog recently posted a full explanation of the all-seeing eye's actual inner workings in a manner simplistic enough for even technophobic cavemen such as ourselves to understand. The post also gives a little insight into the trial-and-error development of Kinect. It sounds like it was a pretty fascinating process -- though apparently the dev team didn't even think to incorporate robot magic, which, in our opinion, seems like a pretty major oversight.
Intel waves around Razer's Sixense motion-sensing sticks, plays Portal 2 on the big screen (video)
For any new peripheral to succeed in the market, it needs a killer app. Seems like Razer found one -- at Intel's press conference at CES 2011, it got to demo Portal 2 with its Sixense motion controller. We were on hand to see it in action, and it looks like the game's tailor-made to take advantage of your precision arm-waving; moving the right stick controls a tractor beam that emanates from the Portal Gun, such that your protagonist can reach though those game-twisting wormholes without sticking her neck out. But don't take our word for it -- see for yourself after the break!
LG ST600 Smart TV Upgrader, new Magic Remote eyes-on at CES
We took a closer look at the new LG ST600 Smart TV Upgrader after LG's CES 2011 press event, and while we weren't allowed to handle it for as long as we would've liked, we did manage to snag a few brief impressions. The box is designed to provide consumers with older TVs access to LG's latest SmartTV functions using just an HDMI link. Size-wise, the set-top box seems close to the Apple TV, although it's clearly chunkier. In terms of connections, we spotted an HDMI and Ethernet port in the rear, with at least one USB port on the side. As the image shows, LG's upgraded Magic Remote was also present -- though it's not compatible with this box due to a lack of integrated motion controls. The new wand will ship with LG's latest Smart TVs, and has a more rounded form factor than its predecessor. The enter button was also swapped out for a more prominent Home button. LG is really touting the device as a simpler way to navigate through an ever-growing list of TV extras, but we can't help thinking it's just a streamlined Wiimote. %Gallery-112715%
Hillcrest Labs intros embedded motion control system for TVs, hopes for the best
PrimeSense had a feeling this kind of revolution would take over the television world when we spoke with them last March at GDC, and sure enough, said revolution is happening. LG's already integrated motion controls into its sets with its Magic Remote, and now Hillcrest is providing a solution just in case the rest of the world wants to buy in. Hailed as a "turnkey solution," the Freespace MotionEngine is now integrated with Broadcom's BCM35230 digital TV SoC and BCM20730 single-chip Bluetooth solution. That's a lot of technobabble, for sure, but the long and short of it is this: by integrating this into televisions, Freespace / BT-enabled remotes that are equipped with the right sensors can allow TV viewers to control channel switching, volume levels and who knows what else with just their hands. The outfit will be busting out a demo here in Vegas, so we'll be doing our best to catch a glance.
PrimeSense and ASUS team, bring Kinect-like Wavi Xtion to your living room TV (update)
PrimeSense provides some of the brains behind Microsoft's Kinect, and wants a bigger piece of the pie; ASUS has a reputation for announcing wonderfully wacky peripherals every year. At CES 2011, the Wavi Xtion will check off both boxes nicely. In a nutshell, the Xtion is a PrimeSense 3D depth camera built exclusively for PC, but with an important twist -- it connects to a pair of ASUS Wavi boxes, which wirelessly streams its data to your living room PC between your TV and a Windows PC over the 5GHz band. Oh, and should ASUS attract enough developers, it will even pull down applications from an Xtion online store. ASUS says we'll see the package commercially available around the world in Q2 of next year -- with a UI and selection of apps and games on board -- but they'll release an Xtion PRO developer kit in February to tempt all you Kinect hackers into coding magical things for the platform. No more details for now, but there's an event in Vegas this week where ASUS is all but guaranteed to show it off. PR after the break. Update: Did we say HTPC? Turns out it doesn't quite work that way -- the Wavi are actually a pair of boxes that wirelessly sling data between them. You put the Xtion sensor on top of your TV, connect it to Wavi #1, then plug Wavi #2 into a PC up to 25 meters away. Mind you, it looks like the Xtion may not be quite as capable as Microsoft's unit, as there's only infrared hardware inside -- it might be fine for gesture control, but don't expect any augmented reality lightsaber fights. See some mockups below! %Gallery-112375%
PrimeSense and Asus announce Kinect-style device for living room PCs
PrimeSense, the company that created the motion-sensing technology for Kinect, has teamed up with Asus to create a new controller-free interaction device -- this time for PC. The WAVI Xtion device is designed to enable gesture control of media center PCs in living rooms. It's similar to Kinect in a few ways, but focused on the multimedia control features instead of the game stuff. There might still be games and other assorted programs: sometime after the Q2 launch, Asus will open an "Xtion Online Store" through which developers can sell apps designed in the Xtion PRO platform. The PRO development technology will be released in February. The WAVI Xtion device itself will be unveiled during CES, which runs from January 6 to 9. Update: PrimeSense issued a correction regarding the linked press release. The line "The WAVI Xtion media center for the PC leverages ultra-wide band wireless link and PrimeSense 3D sensing solution to provide controller-free interaction experiences in the living room" should read "The WAVI Xtion media center for the PC leverages wireless HDMI technology and PrimeSense 3D motion sensor technology to provide controller-free experiences in the living room."
Microsoft seeking to quadruple Kinect accuracy?
Hacked your Kinect recently? Then you probably know something most regular Xbox 360 gamers don't -- namely, that the Kinect's infrared camera is actually capable of higher resolution than the game console itself supports. Though Microsoft originally told us it ran at 320 x 240, you'll find both color and depth cameras display 640 x 480 images if you hook the peripheral up to a PC, and now an anonymous source tells Eurogamer that Microsoft wants to do the very same in the video game space. Reportedly, Redmond artificially limited the Kinect on console in order to leave room for other USB peripherals to run at the same time, but if the company can find a way around the limitation, it could issue a firmware update that could make the Kinect sensitive enough to detect individual finger motions and inevitably lead to gesture control. One of multiple ways Microsoft intends to make the world of Minority Report a reality, we're sure.
Kinect used to control Super Mario on a PC, redefine convergence (video)
If, like us, you've been waiting to see Kinect in control of a truly marquee game, your wait has now come to an end. The same fella that brought us the Kinect lightsaber has returned with a hack enabling eager nostalgics to enjoy a bout of Super Mario controlled only by their body contortions. OpenKinect was used to get the motion-sensing peripheral -- originally intended exclusively for use with an Xbox 360 -- to communicate with his PC, while a simple NES emulator took care of bringing the 25-year old plumber to life. The video awaits after the break.
Alan Wake dev seeking programmer, motion control know-how a plus
Remedy Entertainment, the studio behind Max Payne and, most recently, Alan Wake, is on the hunt for some new talent to add to its ranks -- including a programmer that will preferably have "experience on motion-control technology (e.g. Kinect)." While it's entirely possible that the developer simply wants someone on staff who has mad Dance Central skills, the more likely motivation would be that it's looking to be prepared for when (or if) it decides to develop a game that incorporates motion controls. We're going to suggest that Remedy give this guy a ring. That is, if the company gets tapped to make a Star Wars title that will let players project holograms of themselves into it and bark orders at Lord Vader, Emperor style.
Razer Sixense controller becomes virtual camera for your next machinima epic (video)
Fan of machinima? Then you're used to static shots in which a character walks into the scene, says his line, makes a silly joke, and then walks off again. Panning and smooth, flowing shots are not the forte of films created in a virtual world, but the repurposing of some Razer Sixense controllers could let the director really get into the scene thanks to researchers at Abertay University. They borrowed an idea from Avatar, in which James Cameron commissioned cameras with motion-tracking viewfinders so that he could see the virtual world through which the actors were moving. The team at Abertay uses Sixense controllers similarly to control a virtual camera, which would let gamers find dramatic, sweeping angles for their replays. Or, you know, just get a super closeup of that post-melee victory dance.
Harmonix details design process behind Dance Central's Kinect UI
Creating a functional user interface through Kinect can't be an easy task -- how do you make waving your arms around mean something, after all? Harmonix was confronted with exactly this problem in developing Dance Central, and judging by reviews, the developer figured it out just fine. So what's the secret? The team had to actually teach players how to gesture, using visual and even aural feedback in the game when players got it right. Developer Ryan Challinor told the Montreal International Games Summit this week that in testing, player swipes varied widely across both speed and position, and so the final solution was to make the players react to the game, rather than programming the game to react to the players. A few different solutions were prototyped, however, including the utilization of a cursor, which was dragged around the screen and planted in "notches" to choose the game's songs or options. The team also tried to get players to interact in 3D space, either "pushing" on virtual buttons or "grabbing" and pulling a scroll wheel around. In the end, Challinor said, simply iterating these ideas was the key to solving the Kinect conundrum: The team implemented idea after idea, and then polished the one that worked best. Of course, not every development team responsible for the first batch of Kinect games took this approach. At least one studio seemingly went with its first idea, and then made it as raw as possible.
